Saving Seafood

NEFMC Sends Clam Dredge Framework Back to Habitat Committee to Develop New Alternatives

July 5, 2018 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council voted on June 14 to remand its draft Clam Dredge Framework Adjustment to the Habitat Committee for further development. The Council also issued a specific request to the surfclam industry to propose additional alternatives for consideration and analysis.

The Council initially was scheduled to select the framework’s range of alternatives, which then would have been analyzed in detail over the summer by the Habitat Plan Development Team (PDT). Under this timeline, the Council potentially could have taken final action on the framework in September.

However, during the Council’s recent meeting in Portland, ME, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, NOAA Fisheries) Regional Administrator expressed concern that all of the alternatives proposed to date in the Clam Dredge Framework appeared to include a fair amount of “sensitive habitat” and may not meet the framework’s “purpose and need for action.”

The Regional Administrator recognized that additional analyses were forthcoming and stressed that no conclusive determination had been made.

Nonetheless, the Council clearly heard the words of caution, noting that NMFS may have a challenging time approving proposed surfclam hydraulic dredge exemption areas within the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area (HMA) if the framework’s purpose and need aren’t met.

Read the full release here

Massachusetts: Two Essex clam flats reopen

May 31, 2018 — ESSEX, Mass. — State fisheries regulators reopened two of Essex’s clam-harvesting areas on Wednesday, helping mitigate potential demand issues for restaurants and seafood dealers following Sunday’s town-wide closure because of sewage contamination.

Following a second examination, the state Division of Marine Fisheries reopened two harvesting areas — N 7-4 and N 7-5 — that overlap into Ipswich and are among the farthest away from the Main Street area where the sewer pipe broke Saturday night and sent its contents surging into the Essex River.

The rest of the town’s clam flats remain closed indefinitely, with no indication when they might reopen.

According to the order DMF issued Sunday to the towns of Essex and Ipswich, as well as the city of Gloucester, the entire N 7 Essex Bay area was closed to clamming.

The N7 Essex Bay area, according to the closure notice, includes “the waters, flats and tributaries of Essex Bay in the Towns of Ipswich and Essex and the City of Gloucester, inside and south and west of a line drawn across the Essex Bay inlet from the southern most point of Crane Beach in the Town of Ipswich easterly to the northern most point of Two Penny Loaf in Gloucester.”

The reopening of the two harvesting areas at Middle Castle Neck River and Lower Castle Neck River went into effect at sunrise Wednesday and clammers wasted little time resuming the harvest.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

 

Climate change to have drastic effects on Gulf of Maine lobster and clam fisheries, studies say

May 23, 2018 — AUGUSTA, Maine — Two new scientific studies are highlighting the current and future impacts that rising ocean temperatures will have on lobster, clams and other important commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Maine.

Research on nearly 700 North American fish species predicts Atlantic cod habitat could shrink by as much as 90 percent by century’s end and that lobster populations could shift 200 miles farther north as a result of climate change. Meanwhile, a separate research project suggests Maine’s soft-shell clam industry could collapse unless steps are taken to protect the fishery from green crabs that are thriving in the state’s warming waters.

“Something is out of whack and we need to do something about it. We need to adapt,” said University of Maine professor Brian Beal, who has studied soft-shell clams for more than 30 years.

The studies are part of a growing body of scientific work seeking to understand – and look beyond – changes that fishermen across the country are witnessing on the water every day.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

Alaska fishermen: Sea otter comeback is eating into profits

May 18, 2018 — ANCHORAGE, Alaska —  Northern sea otters, once hunted to the brink of extinction along Alaska’s Panhandle, have made a spectacular comeback by gobbling some of the state’s finest seafood – and fishermen are not happy about the competition.

Sea otters dive for red sea urchins, geoduck clams, sea cucumbers – delicacies in Asia markets – plus prized Dungeness crab. They then carry their meals to the surface and float on their backs as they eat, sometimes using rocks to crack open clams and crab. The furry marine mammals, which grow as large as 100 pounds (45 kilograms), eat the equivalent of a quarter of their weight each day.

Phil Doherty, head of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association, is working to save the livelihood of 200 southeast Alaska fishermen and a $10 million industry but faces an uphill struggle against an opponent that looks like a cuddly plush toy.

Fishermen have watched their harvest shrink as sea otters spread and colonize, Doherty said. Divers once annually harvested 6 million pounds (2.7 million kilograms) of red sea urchins. The recent quota has been less than 1 million pounds (454,000 kilograms).

“We’ve seen a multimillion-dollar fishery in sea urchins pretty much go away,” he said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WPXI

 

How Maine can save its historic clamming industry

May 15, 2018 — Maine’s clamming industry, typically the second or third most economically important marine resource, saw landings fall to an 87-year low in 2017. Commercial harvests dropped 39 percent and 66 percent over the past five and 35 years, respectively. Today, about 1,500 state-licensed clammers ply their trade in the soft-bottom intertidal zone whereas in 1973 that number was nearly 5,925. This decline should worry coastal communities from Kittery to Lubec.

Though we possess different perspectives and experiences, we are united in our concern for the future of Maine’s clamming industry. We joined forces on the flats in northern Casco Bay to better understand the nature of the clam decline. Since 2013, we have worked together, along with other clammers, research technicians and students, to conduct 27 experiments at 78 intertidal sites, and analyzed the contents of more than 34 tons of intertidal sediments. Some of our findings were recently published in the Journal of Shellfish Research.

While many threats to soft-shell clam populations exist, such as disease, pollution, red tide, coastal acidification, our studies showed that predators — both invasive and native — are the major cause of recent declines in this fishery, and furthermore, that no significant relationship exists between harvesting and the amount of juvenile clams under 1-year-old. Instead, we have learned that the health of the clam population is determined very early in a clam’s life history.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

 

Harvest of clams continues to dwindle in New England

April 9, 2018 — The harvest of soft-shell clams is dwindling along the coast of New England, where the shellfish are embedded in the culture as much as the tidal muck.

Soft-shell clams, also called “steamers” or “longnecks,” are one of the northeastern U.S.’s most beloved seafood items, delighting shoreside diners in fried clam rolls, clam strips and clam chowders. But the nationwide harvest fell to a little less than 2.8 million pounds of meat in 2016, the lowest total since 2000, and there are new signs of decline in Maine.

The Pine Tree State produces more of the clams than any other, and state regulators there said clam harvesters collected a little more than 1.4 million pounds of the shellfish last year. That’s the lowest total since 1930, and less than half a typical haul in the early- and mid-1980s.

The clam fishery is coping with a declining number of fishermen, a warming ocean, harmful algal blooms in the marine environment and growing populations of predator species, said regulators and scientists who study the fishery. It leaves clammers like Chad Coffin of Freeport, Maine, concerned the harvest will decline to the point it will be difficult to make a living.

Read the full story at the Concord Monitor

 

Maine: 2017 commercial fishing landings are fourth highest ever

March 2, 2018 — AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine commercial fishermen once again landed more than a half-billion dollars worth of marine resources in 2017.

At $569,173,089, the total value stands as the fourth highest ever and marks only the sixth time that Maine harvesters have surpassed $500 million.

“Maine’s commercial harvesters have again established our state as a leader in the sustainable, responsible management of marine resources,” said Governor Paul R. LePage. “Not only do they contribute greatly to our state’s economy, they consistently deliver the best seafood in the world.”

Lobster landings in 2017 were the sixth highest on record at 110,819,760 pounds, despite declining by 16 percent from 2016. Value also dropped from $4.08 a pound in 2016 to $3.91 a pound for an overall value of $433,789,855, which still represented the fourth highest landed value for Maine’s iconic fishery. When accounting for bonuses paid to harvesters by 15 of 20 co-ops, the overall landed value of lobster was $450,799,283.

According to National Marine Fisheries Service data, American lobster was the species of highest landed value in the United States in 2015 and 2016, and Maine’s landings accounted for approximately 80 percent of that landed value in 2016.

Herring, the primary bait source for the lobster industry, again represented the second most valuable commercial fishery at $17,993,786 on the strength of a record per-pound price of 27 cents. Harvesters landed 66,453,073 pounds, most of which was harvested from the in-shore Gulf of Maine area known as Area 1A.

Despite a drop of nearly 4 million pounds landed and a dip of $3.8 million in value, Maine’s softshell clam industry remained the third most valuable commercial fishery at $12,363,328.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American 

 

Ocean Acidification Threatens Our Shellfish

February 2, 2018 — The Massachusetts legislature is current considering a number of bills regarding ocean acidification. If passed into law, the bills will establish a special commission or task force to study the effects of coastal and ocean acidification on coastal communities, fishing and aquaculture industries, and local commercially-harvested species. These bills come at a very critical time when what we do or don’t do next to address the effects of ocean acidification could very well alter the Commonwealth’s culture and economy.

What is ocean acidification?

Excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels is driving climate change and along for the ride is increased global temperatures, rising sea levels, and increased storm intensity. We hear about it almost daily. But on a planet that’s 70 percent ocean, what’s happening below the waves? They call it global warming’s evil twin: ocean acidification.

Much like the atmosphere, the ocean is absorbing more and more carbon dioxide. As a result, ocean temperatures are not only rising, but the actual chemistry of the ocean is changing. Research estimates that the ocean has become 30 percent more acidic since the Industrial Revolution. In particular, the Gulf of Maine is especially vulnerable because its colder waters can absorb more carbon dioxide than other ocean areas. Massachusetts’ bays and sounds are among those waters impacted by ocean acidification.

Why do we need to act?

Ocean acidification should be very alarming to Massachusetts and its legislators because it poses a grave threat to the Commonwealth’s shellfish fisheries – the most valuable in the Commonwealth. Increased ocean acidity interferes with the ability of shell-forming organisms such as clams, mussels, and oysters to build and maintain their calcium carbonate shells. The planktonic larval stages of many species are also vulnerable, a concern for hatcheries and wild populations of shellfish.

Read the full story at TalkingFish

 

NMFS Approves New England Council Habitat Amendments; Will Provide Boost to Scallops up to 60 Million lbs

January 10, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — NMFS has given formal approval to the New England Council’s Fish habitat amendment that makes major changes in rules regarding closed areas in New England.

The most immediate impact is on scallops, where NMFS approved the opening of closed area 1 and the Nantucket Lightship area.  The concept here was that an abundance of scallops in these areas would lead to rapid harvesting, and a lower swept area by scallop dredges than if vessels were trying to gain their allocations outside the closed areas.

Also research has shown that these were not significant areas for fish spawning.  The approval means that the options for scallop harvest will be at the maximum level considered by the council, which projects about 60 million pounds of scallop landings for the 2018-19 season.

NMFS rejected the opening of closed area II on Georges Bank, which is also a major scallop producer.

Overall, full time license holders will get a total of 6 closed area trips of 18,000 lbs each, along with 24 days at sea in the open areas.

The habitat framework is the most far reaching adjustments of closed areas in 20 years, and it will provide better protection for both fish and habitat while eliminating closures that no longer serve their intended purpose.

The major change that was not allowed by NMFS was the opening of Eastern Georges Bank, called closed area II.  This is the so called Northern Edge, which historically was one of the most abundant scallop producing areas.  NMFS is keeping it closed to protect habitat.

Council Executive Director Tom Nies said, “Naturally we’re disappointed that our proposed Closed Area II changes were not approved, but the fact that the vast majority of the amendment will be implemented is a solid endorsement of the work the Council and staff did to dramatically change the closure system off New England.”

The habitat framework also establishes a series of seasonal cod spawning closures to all gear, both recreational and commercial; and it also sets a number of areas where bottom trawl gear is prohibited, but the council makes distinctions in many areas that will allow use of gillnets and lobster gear, as well as scallop and clam dredging.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

Maine: Missing Clammer’s Body Found In Long Cove

January 9, 2018 — Officials have confirmed that the body of a clammer who disappeared during last week’s blizzard has been found.

The body of 35-year-old Paul Benner was found around noon Monday in Long Cove, where he went missing.

Benner went missing after heading out to dig clams in last week’s blizzard. When he failed to return, a search was launched by air and sea.

Read the full story at Maine Public